Saudi Arabia using death penalty as political weapon against Shia Muslims: Amnesty International

Amnesty International has condemned the Saudi regime over the spike in the number of executions in the country, stating that the death penalty is increasingly being used as a political weapon against the Shia Muslim in the Wahhabi state.

According to Press TV, the Britain-based human rights group said in its 2019 global review of the death penalty published on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia executed a record number of people last year, despite an overall decline in executions worldwide.

It highlighted that regime authorities put 184 people to death in 2019, and the number was the highest Amnesty has ever recorded in a single year in the country.

Amnesty International pointed out that the figure shows an increase by 23 percent compared to the preceding year, when 149 executions were carried out in Saudi Arabia.

Of the 184 people executed in 2019, six were women.

Amnesty International then underscored that Saudi officials’ use of the death penalty as a political weapon against Shia Muslims has increased.

On April 23 last year, there was a mass execution of 37 men, 32 of whom were from Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslims.

They included 11 men convicted by the so-called Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in the capital Riyadh of espionage and sentenced to death after a grossly unfair trial.

The 11 were among 15 men who had been convicted by the SCC in December 2016, and sentenced to death on made-up charges and allegation that included high treason, “supporting protests,” “spreading the Shia faith” and “possessing banned books and videos.”

 The mass execution also included 14 men convicted by the same notorious court in a mass trial for their participation in anti-regime protests and a young man, who was under 18 years old at the time of the crime.

The report comes as a crackdown led by Saudi’s regime heir apparent Mohamed bin Salman against pro-democracy campaigners, Muslim preachers and intellectuals in the Wahhabi state continues unabated.

Moreover, the oil-rich and Shia Muslim-populated Eastern Province has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011.

Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the region.

In January 2016, Saudi regime executed Shia Muslim religious scholar Ayatollah Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who was an outspoken critic of Riyadh.

SS